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Blockbusters (U.S. Syndicated Game Show)
Blockbusters is a Mark Goodson game show that aired from 1980 to 1987. The original version hosted by Bill Cullen ran from 1980 to 1982, while the second version with Bill Rafferry ran in 1987. The current version of Blockbusters was debuted in January 2017 with Tom Berengon (by the time he finished his 14-year hosting run on America's Funniest Home Videos) acting as host and it was produced by All American Television. Gameplay The game board consisted of 20 interlocking yellow hexagons, arranged in five columns of four. Each hexagon contained a letter of the alphabet (except X and Z). A contestant would choose one of the letters, and would be asked a general-knowledge trivia question whose correct answer began with the chosen letter. The game board is designed in such a way that a tied game was not a possible finishing result. Even if all 20 hexagons were filled there would always be a winner. The game began with a toss-up question to play for control of the board, starting with a letter that was chosen at random. The teams or players could buzz-in during the middle of reading of a question. If a player or team got the correct answer, they gained control of that hexagon and were given the chance to choose another one. If the contestant answered incorrectly, the opposing team or player was given a chance to answer it after the host re-read the question. If nobody answered it correctly, the host asked another question whose answer began with that same letter. Each correct answer won £5. In the case of the two-player team, each player won whatever money the team accumulated. The solo player attempted to complete a vertical connection of white hexagons from the top of the board to the bottom; that required at least four correct answers. The pair attempted to connect a path from left to right with blue hexagons, (purple during the Aspel era) requiring at least five spaces. The first side to connect their path won the game. The first player or team to win two games won the match. When either party was one correct answer away from completing their path, the hexagons forming their path would flash to indicate this. If both were one correct answer away, all lit hexagons on the board would flash, indicating that the situation was effectively "Blockbusters either way" (later referred to as a "mutual space" on the board), and the next player to give a correct answer would win the game, unless the contestant chose a panel which did not give them win, which may sometimes be considered as a safety tactic, although this rarely happened when a victory was imminent. Gold Run The winner of the match went on to play the Gold Run bonus round; if the pair won, only one player on the team could play, with the turns alternating at each Gold Run. The board consisted of a pattern of green hexagons similar to that of the main game, but the hexagons had 2 to 4 letters inside them; those letters were the initials of the correct answer. (For instance, if a contestant chose "BS" and the host said "Where people kiss in Ireland", the correct answer would be "Blarney Stone.") When the contestant guessed correctly, the hexagon turned gold. However, if the contestant passed, it turned black, blocking the player's path; it was then up to the contestant to work around it. The object was to horizontally connect the left and right sides of the board within 60 seconds (or before blocking off all possible horizontal connections). If the players were successful they won a special prize. If the Gold Run was not won, each correct answer paid $100. Defending champions could keep going for up to five matches undefeated, in order to win an even bigger prize.Category:All American Television Category:Game shows Category:Syndicated programmes Category:Syndication